Habseligkeiten

In an atttempt to improve the global perception of the German language, the Deutscher Sprachrat institute ran a contest to choose (it sounds like the setup of a joke, but it’s not) the most beautiful word in the German language. The prize was apparently a two-week trip in Mauritius. The winner was ‘Habseligkeiten’, meaning possessions, belongings or effects:

It beat Geborgenheit (a feeling of security) into second place, while lieben (to love) came third. However, Liebe was the popular choice among the 22,838 people from 111 countries who submitted their favourites. Organisers were looking for why people explained their particular choice rather than counting up the number of votes received.

I originally heard about this on the radio, so it’s a pity that I don’t have a recording of the word being spoken. If any German speakers (yo, Boris) want to record themselves saying this word and email me the file, I’d be much obliged. By the way, if you’ve never heard Shakespeare performed in German, it’s quite a thing.